Feels so good.

We finally made it to church. And, not just Beau and me, but La Petite Belle too. Two Sundays ago, La Petite Belle attended her first church service since December, 2015. At that point, she was over 100 days from her bone marrow transplant and was just starting to be around people again. In July of that same year was when church-attending and just generally being with large groups of people came to a halt.

You have to understand that this girl was basically born on a church pew.

She first attended church within the first couple of weeks of being born and, with having parents on staff at a church, that was only the beginning. From then on out, she was pretty much at every church service, every event, and heavily involved in the ministry. She spent just as much time at the office with us when she wasn’t in school. La Petite Belle would help out the maintenance staff in the summers and I would find jobs for her to do to keep her occupied. She even had a little side job she created offering neck and shoulder massages to the secretarial staff for quarters so she could raid the snack machine. Needless to say, the church was home to her. The people were her family.

It’s definitely strange and unfamiliar searching for and attending new churches. After having spent so much time being the welcoming committee, it’s hard to be the visitor being welcomed. But, here we are … strangers in our own lives.

It felt good for all of us to be in church as a family, having my husband on one side and my daughter on the other. We held hands. We worshiped. 

During the third worship song, I looked down at La Petite Belle in her wheelchair. Her head was in her hands and she was sobbing. I sat down and held her. I asked her why she was crying. Her response was, “It just feels so good to be in church again.” I understand. It does feel so good. It feels like home. It’s the closest thing we have to home.

La Petite Belle struggles with understanding all this. We encourage her to stop trying because we have no answers. All we can do is press on, move forward, and sometimes just get through it. All we can do is trust God, knowing that He’s always got us and never left us.

La Petite Belle has a special week ahead. Although she’s lost many friends because of distance and our situation, one friend has remained close. This sweet friend is staying with us this whole week and we can’t be more thrilled. Although we’ll be at the hospital a few times a week, they will get to spend some good quality time together. We are extremely thankful for friends who’ve stuck with us no matter the distance, no matter the difficulty, no matter the inconvenience.

Her friend, Avery, definitely puts a smile on her face.

Here they are dying eggs this past weekend.

Friends seem to make tough times more bearable.

As far as any updates go, there aren’t a whole lot.

When you pray for La Petite Belle, please continue to pray for:

1. Hemolysis (destruction of red blood cells) to be gone.

2. Kidneys to miraculously wake up & begin to function normally. 

We will continue to believe for healing in this area despite what the doctors say.

3. Increase in appetite & nutrition to improve.

4. Increase in strength & mobility.

5. Peace of mind.

Also, please pray for God to provide jobs or opportunities for Beau and me. He has been faithful to provide for us these last couple of years through all this and we know that He will continue to take care of us.